The sensei has somehow been dubbed the resident bat-woman, or at least flying fox expert at work. They are definitely not bats, and those in the know will be most indignant if they are called such things!
How cute is this little guy? A little flying fox pup, that came in from WIRES with diarrhoea. After a hasty call to another flying fox expert we established what normal bat poo is supposed to look like. Apparently like cottage cheese, if anyone is interested. The technique for handling these little guys is to get them latched onto a rolled-up towel, with the nipple in the mouth so they feel secure. Apparently this latched-on to the nipple technique, like our little ginger boy is how flying foxes spend the first 3 weeks of their lives, right up until they get too heavy to be carried out on feeding expeditions, (incidentally, the adults can fly up to 50km from home to find food). At about this age, the mum starts leaving them back at the flying fox 'camp'.
Apparently numbers of grey-headed flying foxes are declining in Sydney, and you guessed it, habitat destruction is the number one killer. Apparently they love coastal gum tree blossoms, and coincidentally humans love to chop down trees near the coast to build big ugly houses to spoil everyone elses view. The population of flying foxes has thus declined by 30% in the last decade. The poor little flying fox has such a bad rep, mainly due to destroying trees in the botanic gardens and eating fruit crops. But we really can't blame them for that. You gotta eat after all. Incidentally, the flying fox has a penis 1/4 of the length of its body. Probably pretty handy when you mate upside down hanging from a tree.
1 comment:
Aww, love a bit of nipple confusion :)
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